Annual Report - Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies of Georgia

2300 Henderson Mill Road, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30345
Effective 9.1.14
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carol Hayes,
BSN, MN, MPH, CNM
Brian McGowan, MBA
Michael R. Silver, CPA
Brett Schroeder, DMD
Nicole Smith, MBA
Shawn Smith, MBA
Pat Swan, RN
Mary Thompson, RN, MBA
[email protected]
A frantic father
called needing help
for his wife and child.
His child needed
vaccines, and his wife
was in need of
prenatal care. They
could not afford a
private doctor, did
not speak English
and did not qualify for Medicaid. With no place left to turn, his sisterin-law told him about PowerLine. He called, and we referred him to
the Health Department where he could get help with the child’s
vaccines as well as WIC. We also referred the wife to Grady Hospital’s
prenatal care program for people with low income and who do not
qualify for Medicaid.
We also provided a resource where he could get help with a car seat
and baby supplies. When we called him back to do a quality assurance
survey, he let us know that when he called Grady he was connected to
a representative who spoke his language and that he used another
resource we provided to help him with a car seat and babies supplies.
I am really glad we have bilingual specialists at the PowerLine, and we
were able to help this family.
— Vickie, Bilingual Information & Referral Specialist
770.451.0020
PowerLine 1.800.300.9003
www.hmhbga.org
I received a call from a very worried mother
whose 16 year old daughter was
pregnant. I talked with her about
resources available to her daughter in
the state. I gave her the number and
the website for her to apply for
Right from the Start Medicaid
program for pregnant women. I
also gave her the numbers for
WIC, parenting classes, and three
referrals for physicians specializing
in prenatal care who were close to her
area. I informed her that the providers
were low cost, and this may be beneficial
while she waited to be approved for
Medicaid.
At the end of the call the mother stated that she was thankful and
that the resources I provided would be very helpful for her daughter.
It really made a difference. I know that one of the risk factors for
infant mortality is lack of early and regular prenatal care. Apparently,
this mom also knew how important prenatal care is. The PowerLine
is making a difference in the lives of Georgia families every day.
— Ursula, , Bilingual Information & Referral Specialist
Leah Aldridge,
JD, IBCLC, RLC
Jennifer Blakely, JD MPH
Chip Davis, CFP
Patricia Ecklund, RN, BSN
Hanan Elbeitam, MBA
William Fields, MBA
Erica Francis-Scott, MD
Merrilee Gober, RN, BSN, JD
Success Stories
Improving
Access
to Healthcare
2013-14
ANNUAL REPORT
President’s Message
Welcome to our 2014 Annual Meeting and Conference. While our mission is to
serve mothers and babies by improving access to healthcare, on this day, our mission
is to serve YOU.
We join you in your passion to improve the health and lives of mothers and babies.
We hope that today’s conference will support and energize you as you fulfill your
life’s calling with your talents and expertise. We hope that the nuggets of knowledge
that you acquire today will put more tools in your toolbox, more feathers in your
cap, and more wind in your sails. We also hope that it will make you inquisitive to
continue in your quest for more knowledge.
It has been a privilege to serve HMHB as a director and president. During my
tenure as president, HMHB has updated its Articles of Incorporation and other
corporate policies. In working with DPH, we have expanded the call center to also
initiate contact with families who have high-risk infants to offer them resources
such as Children’s 1st and Babies Can’t Wait. In working with Georgia State
University, we have become the resource for educational information as the service
agent for Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. This service fills an important void for our
families and State DFCS staff. HMHB has also put its call center database of
resources online for 24/7 access. Finally, we have expanded our outreach by adding
two staff persons to assist families with medical insurance options.
Our advocacy remains strong too. Andy Lord leads us in our efforts at the Capitol
and beyond. We continue to highlight the need for prenatal care for all women, the
need for appropriate Medicaid reimbursement rates (especially in our rural
communities), and our desire to dissuade teens from smoking by increasing the cost
of cigarettes (because today’s smoking teens are our future pregnant mothers).
Importantly, we have taken the lead in an effort to license lactation consultants so
that mothers and babies can have easy access to their clinical care. Licensure would
pave the way so that pediatricians and family practice physicians could have these
experts as part of their office staff. That way ALL mothers, not just the mothers
who can pay for it out-of-pocket and who are willing to invite strangers into their
homes, can get help when needed. Ultimately, we want consultants to be as easy to
access as formula.
Under the leadership of Shawn Smith, we have had two successful golf tournaments
to help us raise funds for our mission work. Our third annual tournament is slated
for April.
HMHB continues to collaborate with other medical societies, nonprofits, healthcare
providers, third-party payers and state agencies. We serve on the DCH Low Birth
Weight workgroup and the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
In the coming weeks, working with DeKalb Medical, Philips Medical, and
Amerigroup, we anticipate starting a collaborative service project of repairing broken
WIC breast pumps so that mothers of NICU babies can have easy access to this
important equipment in order to be able to nourish their babies.
As our name indicates, we are a “coalition” of many, and I am so appreciative of the
HMHB staff, our new Executive Director, Ayanna Rutherford, and our tireless
volunteer board members. Each of these people has an important role and expertise,
but no one person can accomplish anything without the others – our work for
mothers and babies is truly a team effort. And YOU, our members, are critical too.
You are the voices in the healthcare arena. You educate your colleagues, your
patients and their families – and you educate us at HMHB – letting us know the
needs of your community. We are listening. We appreciate you and what you do for
Georgia’s mothers and babies!
Thank you for allowing me to serve HMHB.
Merrilee Gober, RN, BSN, JD
Board President
History & Mission
Every year, the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
of Georgia (HMHB) helps improve access to healthcare by:
DIRECT SERVICE. Since 1984, we have operated
PowerLine, a toll-free bilingual phone line to access
healthcare. The Georgia Department of Public Health
(DPH) contracts with us to provide this federally mandated
Maternal and Child Health call center. In fiscal year 201314 we received 19,824 incoming calls to the PowerLine. We
also took on two additional projects during the fiscal year.
In January, we began work on a project for DPH making
outgoing calls to families of infants with developmental risk
factors. From January to June we made 4,542 calls to those
families. On February 26, 2014, we started taking calls for
Prevent Child Abuse Georgia (PCA). The number of calls
grew from three in February to 57 in June. By the end of
the fiscal year, we received a total of 105 PCA calls. In
addition to the call center, our online referrals resulted in
26,530 online searches!
ADVOCACY. HMHB is a strong statewide voice for
maternal and infant health policy issues. PowerLine data has
proven to be an invaluable tool in supporting legislative
reform. Our Breastfeeding Initiative is designed to improve
access to breastfeeding support in communities across
Georgia.
COLLABORATION. Our vital role in linking public and
private initiatives has resulted in elimination of barriers to
existing services, reduction in duplication of services, and
effective utilization of limited health resources. HMHB
membership allows communication between health care
providers and grassroots advocates and citizens.
85% of HMHB revenue goes to program expense.
We invite YOU to help improve access to healthcare for
Georgia’s women and children by becoming an annual
member! $45 online/www.hmhbga.org
HMHB is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For audit, Form
990, W-9, and/or Tax ID Letter, please email
[email protected].
PowerLine Call Center
1.800.300.9003
Who Calls?
Black 46%
White 35%
Hispanic/Latino 12%
Declined/unknown 4%
Asian 3%
Adult/for a child - 75%
Pregnant women - 13%
Women/for herself - 7%
Information only - 2%
Man/for himself - 3%
Top Seven Reasons
Georgians Call
1. WIC (Georgia’s Women, Infant, Children
Supplemental Nutrition Program)
2. Pediatrician
3. Right from the Start Medicaid
4. Primary Care Physician
5. Dental Care/Oral Health
6. Prescription Assistance
7. OB-Gyn/Prenatal Care
Quality Assurance:
97% of callers would recommend
PowerLine to a friend
PowerLine is
now online!
www.hmhbga.org
Breastfeeding
Initiative
Breastfeeding is a public health game changer. It is low
cost, low tech and seldom requires any durable medical
equipment, drugs, or infrastructure. It does not
discriminate. It improves the health of all infants – boys
and girls; healthy and sick; premature and
full-term; rich and poor. It is for
all of these reasons that
HMHB has taken the lead
on several important
breastfeeding initiatives in
Georgia. We support the
licensure of the clinical
breastfeeding professionals
(known as “IBCLCs”)
because licensure will
improve access to clinical
support and will save precious
healthcare (and WIC) dollars.
With a grant from Kaiser Permanente,
we hosted seven lunch and learns across the state this past
year about the importance of breastfeeding. We are
collaborating with GSU to better understand the
healthcare savings that breastfeeding will afford public
health. Partnering with DeKalb Medical, Philips Medical,
and Amerigroup we are about to launch a new WIC breast
pump repair program. We unveiled a new “Breastfeeding
Welcome Here” window cling program so that mothers
can frequent businesses in which they feel welcome with
their infants. We continue to look ahead with our eyes on
a Breastfeeding Strategic Plan in which we hope to engage
YOU to play an important part. All of these programs will
work together to help increase Georgia’s breastfeeding rates
because we know that breastfeeding is a better formula for
Georgia!
To learn more about how you can help support us, please
check out the Breastfeeding Initiative on our webpage
www.hmhbga.org.
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia improves access to
healthcare for Georgia’s women and children. www.hmhbga.org
Thanks to Our
Members & Donors
Contributions from 7/1/13 - 6/30/14
Dr. Joseph Alderman
Aldridge Connors, LLP
American Academy of Pediatrics Georgia
Chapter
Amerigroup Corporation
AmeriHealth Mercy
Atlanta Breastfeeding Consultants, LLC
Balch & Bingham
baby gooroo Inc.
Monique Baker
Barnes & Thornburg
Kristina Bryan
Pamela Craft
Barbara Curl
Jones Day
James and Diane Ecklund
Patricia Ecklund
Bill Fields
Center for Black Women’s Wellness
Cherokee County Health Department
Clarke County Board of Health
Cobb County Board of Health
Colquitt Regional Medical Center
The Community Foundation
Community Health Charities
CSRA Breastfeeding Coalition
Deitra Gilbert
Dekalb Board of Health
District Four Health Services
Donald C. Hart Family Foundation
Mike & Karen Drozd
Emory University
Erica Francis-Scott, MD
GE
Georgia Academy of Family Physicians
Georgia Affiliate American College of Nurse
Midwives
Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition
Georgia Dental Association
Georgia Department of Public Health
Georgia Obstetrical and Gynecological Society
Georgia State University
Dr. Fred & Merrilee Gober
Gwinnett County Health Department
Hamilton Medical Center
Carol Hayes
Help A Child Smile
Houston County Board of Health
Kaiser Foundation
Kimberly Langley
Laurens County Board of Health
Andrew Lord
March of Dimes Georgia Chapter
The Marcus Autism Center
MCG Health, Inc.
Brian McGowan
MedImmune
MeKesson Provider Technologies
Memorial Health
Miller & Martin
Mary Muse
Cassandra Neville
Northside Hospital
Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital
Prevent Child Abuse Georgia
Pro Bono Atlanta
Sanofi Pasteur, Inc.
Seedco
Brett Schroeder, DMD
Nicole Smith
Shawn Smith
Tim Smith
Amanda Springfield
Sutherland
Pat Swan
Tita Stewart
Sheila Thomas
Mary Thompson
Total Craft Consultants, LLC-Pamela L.
Wilkes
Turner Boardcasting
Southeast Lactation Consultant
Southeastern Primary Care ConsortiumAHEC
Southwest Health District 8-2
US Lactation Consultant Association
Voices for Georgia's Children
Deborah Wicker
WIC Augusta
Mary Woodruff
Cindy Zeldin
We appreciate your membership and the gifts of all our donors!
Please call if this list is in error, or you have questions.

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